


When Time Runs Out

by smckee377



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-19 08:53:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29748021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smckee377/pseuds/smckee377
Summary: Nothing beats exploring the Great Sea! Except for when the Great Sea beats you back. The boys find themselves in Wind's Hyrule and things aren't exactly smooth sailing.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28
Collections: Linked Universe





	1. Elixir Soup

“No, no. You’re supposed to do it like this!” Wind grabs the ropes and shows Sky how to tie a proper knot. Sky tries to follow along, but the waves keep knocking him off balance. Wind gladly goes back over it a few more times until Sky has seen it all and is able to clumsily duplicate the knot. Wind beams at him and looks back over at the helm. “How are you doing up there, War?” 

“I was never particularly good at sailing...but I think it’s fine?” War’s voice is uncertain though his face is determined. Wind turns his attention up the main mast to where Wild has precariously perched himself to keep look out. 

“Do you see anything yet, Wild?” Wind calls up. 

“Nothing yet! Though I’m pretty sure there may be something waaaaaaaaaay over that way,” he calls back down, lowering Aryll’s spyglass to gesture slightly off to the west of their current bearing. 

“War! Adjust a little to the west. We should be getting near an island that we can stop at for a break!” War dutifully adjusts their heading as Wind takes stock of the others who decided to remain on deck. Sky has sat down in the bow of the ship and is practicing his knots while Legend just watches him, an expression of boredom on his face. Four and Hyrule are each hanging off the railing of the boat trying to spot fish since Wind had told them there are fish that can talk and will tell secrets to passing voyagers in exchange for food. Twilight is emerging unsteadily from below deck, not having gotten his sea-legs yet, and Time is standing close by lest Twilight fall overboard again. Wind can’t help but grin brightly at the sight of them all on this little ship of theirs. They still weren’t exactly sure how they got the ship. When the portal shift happened, they had just found themselves on it and there was no other crew around. They had been extremely skeptical at first, but there wasn’t much of a choice since they were in the middle of the Great Sea and would need a ship large enough for 9 people anyway. 

“Land ho!” Wild calls out from above, pointing straight ahead of the bow. The Links below collectively turn to look and can barely make out an island on the horizon. Wind lets out a whoop and runs to the bow, jumping up on the railing and squinting as hard as he can. 

“It should be Outset if I have our position right!” he calls out to no one in particular. 

“Outset? That’s your home, right?” Twilight asks. Wind turns and smiles at him. 

“Yeah! You can meet my sister! And my grandma! And there are these pigs! I think you’ll like the pigs,” he responds. Twi frowns at him slightly and Wind stumbles quickly over his words. “You know because of the goats and stuff on your farm at home? I thought the pigs would be like the same but not really?” Twi lets the corner of his mouth turn back into a grin and Wind beams at him. 

“Yeah I guess pigs aren’t so bad,” Twi finally replies, gripping the rail tightly as a wave buffets the ship. Wind turns back and watches Outset grow on the horizon. His anticipation builds until he feels as though he could jump into the water and get to the island faster than the ship. 

“Hey Wind?” Warriors calls after some time. 

“Yeah?” Wind shouts back. 

“How am I supposed to stop this thing?” 

“Oh crap!” Wind scurries back to the helm and starts frantically calling out instructions. Wild and Hyrule spring into action, jumping all over the place to get the position of the sails and ropes just right while Warriors tracks the path to the docks. They manage to get the ship to make a mostly smooth landing and Wind throws himself onto the docks, hurriedly tying the ship to it as Warriors and Twilight lower the anchor. Without waiting for the others, Wind takes off for his grandmother’s house. He bursts through the door and dashes forward, just barely stopping himself before he could slam into the kitchen table. 

“Link?” Wind turns and sees his grandmother standing by the cooking pot over the fire. 

“Grandma!” Wind rushes over to her and hugs her tightly. “I missed you so much! How are you? Where’s Aryll? Has Tetra been by lately?” Wind’s grandmother laughs as she pushes Link slightly back from her. 

“Everything has been fine. Tetra will be by in about a week. She promised Aryll she’d show her how to use a sword,” his grandmother puts a hand gently on his cheek and smiles lovingly at him. “But you must tell me, how did you get back here? I thought--” A knock at the door cuts her off. Wind goes over and pulls the door open to see the other Links all standing there. 

“Fancy seeing you here,” Legend says. 

“There they are,” Wind’s grandmother says as she peers around Wind’s shoulder. “Well come in, all of you. I’m nearly done with dinner. I hope you’ll find it filling!” She ushers all the Links inside and they all take places at random spots throughout the room. They hardly finish settling themselves in when the door bursts open yet again. 

“BIG BROTHER!” Aryll cries out. 

“Aryll!” Wind shouts back. They throw themselves at each other, hugging fiercely. Wind picks Aryll up off her feet and shakes her gently, making her laugh and kick her feet. 

“Put me down!” Wind complies and beams at her as she straightens her dress out and looks around at the other Links. “Is everyone here for dinner?” 

“Only if that’s alright with you of course,” Time replies. Aryll beams at him. 

“Yes! I want to hear everything that you and Big Brother have been doing!” She dashes over to the table and settles into a chair, turning her attention expectantly to the room at large. Time laughs. 

“Well, Wind. Why don’t you start it off?” he suggests. 

“Okay!” Wind settles into the seat across from Aryll and takes a dramatic breath. 

“So there I was. In a strange forest with these guys.” Wind gestures towards the others and Aryll’s eyes widen as she edges closer to him. Warriors can’t help but smirk while Wind tells the tale of his first adventure with the group as Aryll hangs onto every word. The tale somehow manages to stretch over dinner and finally ends a little after dark. None of the other Links say anything, though, and simply applaud the retelling along with Aryll and Wind’s grandmother. Wind yawns and his grandmother comes over and pats him on the back. 

“Well now. Why don’t we all head off to bed.” She turns and looks at the 8 others. “We don’t have terribly much room inside here, but you are welcome to stay. I have extra blankets and pillows that we can use to make some beds.” 

“Please, don’t let us trouble you. We have our own accommodations,” Time replies politely before turning to Wind. “We’ll see you in the morning then.” He smiles down at the boy before following the others outside to where they had dropped off their gear. 

“Hey Time?” Four asks as they start setting up for the night. “Do we still have to keep watches? There’s nothing on this island that would be a threat to us from what Wind’s told us about it.” Time straightens up and looks around a bit as he thinks this over. 

“Are you saying that because it’s your turn and you don’t want to take it?’ Hyrule asks with a grin. Four scowls at him. 

“I suppose we can forgo the watches. At least for the time we’re here,” Time says before Four can retort. Four smiles at him and throws himself down on his bedroll, curling up immediately. Hyrule shakes his head lightly before lying down as well. Time can’t help but chuckle, then watches as the other Links also settle in for the night before lying down himself.


	2. Fishmen and Sea Charts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you're out at sea and looking for directions, who better to ask than a fish with the face of a man! Except his directions aren't exactly the best since they only seem to point to danger.

“No no wait HELP!” A splash can be heard from the starboard side of the ship and several Links dash over towards it. Hyrule’s head breaks the surface of the ocean and he starts flailing his arms around. 

“HEEEEEELLLLLLP!” 

Wild immediately throws himself overboard and swims after the rapidly receding Hyrule as Wind calls instructions to get the ship turned around to retrieve them. Wild manages to get to Hyrule and struggles a bit to keep him afloat as he reaches for his Sheikah slate. He’s able to pull it out and create an ice block which he hoists himself onto before he pulls Hyrule up. From their new position, they track the ship as it takes a wide turn and starts heading back towards them. Time and Sky are leaned over the railing holding Warriors and Twilight over the side. Wild and Hyrule reach out as far upwards as they can and War and Twi grab them as the ship races by the ice block. They’re roughly pulled back on board and Hyrule lays down on the deck, shaking slightly, as Wild shakes his head quickly to get the water off. 

“‘Rule? I need to teach you how to swim,” Wild comments offhandedly as he wrings out his shirt as best he can. 

“That seems like a really good idea,” Hyrule replies a little quietly. Wild kneels and places a hand on his shoulder. Hyrule looks up at him. 

“You’re safe now. It’ll be fine,” Wild says more gently than Hyrule had expected. He simply nods in response and pushes himself into a sitting position so he can start wringing out his clothes as well. 

“Wind? Are we close to land yet?” Hyrule calls towards the helm. Wind corrects their bearing back to their original heading and looks down at the others on the deck. 

“I don’t know,” Wind responds. “Wild, climb up again and use the spyglass.” Without hesitation, Wild zooms up the mast and starts scanning the horizon. 

“So you’ve really never been out this way before?” Four asks Wind as he joins him at the helm. 

“Nope. The first time I ever left Outset was when Aryll was kidnapped and I ended up fighting Ganondorf. So I really only explored the islands around the places I had to go to get the stuff I needed for my rescue mission. So this whole direction is completely new to me,” Wind informs him. “Tetra and I were exploring out to the south of Outset before the group found me, so west of it is a whole new place!” 

“Finding new places is cool!” Hyrule chimes in as he joins them. “It seems like a much bigger deal here, too, since everything is ocean.” 

“It is! Tetra and I have been working on a whole set of sea charts to keep track of the things we found to the south. It’ll be much easier now that we have two crews that can go two different directions,” Wind adds. 

“And you picked to go west because it’s all unexplored?” Four asks. Wind nods vigorously. 

“I thought it could be more fun! Wild was way up for it.” The three look up at the top of the mast where Wild is precariously dangling with the spyglass glued to his eye as he stares out at the ocean beside the ship. Wind frowns. “Uh, Wild? The horizon is that way.” 

“Fish!” Wild calls back, pointing at the water. Four and Hyrule race to the railing and, sure enough, find a strange looking fish surfacing beside the ship. It looks them over with an almost human face and both boys are stunned to see that it’s carrying what looks to be a paintbrush in its mouth. 

“Here!” They turn back towards the helm in time to see Wind throw them a bag of bait and a piece of parchment. They scramble to catch both items, then race back to the railing. The fish has started jumping out of the water now, watching both boys. They can hear the ship starting to slow down and the anchor breaks the surface of the ocean. The fish keeps pace with them as the ship slows to a stop. Hyrule tosses out the bait and Wind races over as the fish eats it. After it finishes eating, it circles back and looks up at them. 

“Hoy there!” the fish calls up to them. “I don’t think I’ve seen this ship around these parts before. What sort of sea chart are you using?” Four holds up the basically blank piece of parchment. “That’s your sea chart?! It doesn’t even have the seas on it! How pathetic! Let me at least put the island you’re about to crash into on it.” Without another word, the fishman leaps out of the water and right at the parchment Four is holding in the air. Four barely manages to keep from flinching as the fishman makes some quick marks on the parchment and drops back into the ocean. Immediately, Four turns the parchment around and he, Hyrule, and Wind scrutinize it. 

“This island here is not the friendliest sort. It’s full of monsters the likes of which you’ve never seen! Even the local inhabitants have to hide away from them. Three young lads like yourselves shouldn’t be out here adventuring alone and definitely don’t belong anywhere near this island, so you ought to pack up and go home,” the fishman says before diving back into the depths. Time and Twilight walk over and start examining the map over Four’s head. 

“So there is land nearby,” Time muses aloud. 

“Yup! The fishman said it could be dangerous,” Wind adds nonchalantly. 

“Nothing the 9 of us can’t handle,” Hyrule says confidently. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure of us,” Twilight says darkly. “8 of us are out of our element and even Wind here is in new territory.” 

"I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Wind dismisses. “Every time one of these fishmen warned me away from some dangerous island it turned out not to be so bad. Besides,” he started as an afterthought, “he said there were some people on the island. They probably need our help getting rid of the monsters so they can live there in peace. We should help!” Time and Twilight exchange a brief look. 

“Better make up your minds,” Wild calls down at them. “The island is just right over there.” He points towards the horizon where they can all definitely see the vague shape of the island. 

“What’s the hold up?” Warriors asks, coming up from below deck with Sky. 

“We’ve spotted an island, but a fishman said it was dangerous,” Twilight informs them. 

“He also said there were people living there that were hiding from the monsters,” Time adds. “Wind has suggested we go rescue them.” 

“And we’re going to, but just need a plan, right?” Warriors asks. 

“Something like that,” Time replies. 

“Do we know anything about this place?” 

“Just this.” Time takes the sea chart from Four and passes it to Warriors. 

“This doesn’t tell us very much,” he broods. 

“Well, a fish did draw it,” Wind replies, sounding vaguely injured. 

“Right, yeah…” Warriors returns to studying the map. “Wild! Get down here.” A few moments later, Wild drops into the group. “What could you make out about this island?” Warriors turns the sea chart towards Wild, who snatches it and starts drawing in some very rough symbols as he speaks. 

“There’s some sort of like rock town here and then there are these tree looking things right behind it. But there’s also like this mini volcano right here that spews a lot of ash. I thought I saw things moving somewhere here probably, but I don’t know if they’re friendly or not. I couldn’t see terribly much else though because of that mini-volcano.” Wild finishes making his crude symbols and passes the map back to Warriors. 

“Okay…” he lapses into silence for a few moments as he stares at the parchment. “Here’s what we’re going to do.”


	3. Struck Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys explore an island in the hopes of trying to save whatever inhabitants there are from the local danger, but it appears as though the boys will need some help themselves.

The Links creep forward through the ashes as they approach the area Wild had identified as a rock town. Time readjusts the bandana covering his nose and mouth before glancing back at the others. For a moment, he frowns at the fact that they look like a bunch of bandits with their faces covered as they are, but Wild insisted that they needed to wear them to keep from choking on the ashes. He’d mentioned something about diving straight into a volcano once and being an expert on the matter, so Time just gave up the argument and they all found something to use to cover their noses and mouths. 

It doesn’t take them much longer to actually reach the rock town and it takes even less time to realize that Wild was only partially correct. The rocks indeed are fashioned into buildings, but the entire location is completely abandoned. Carefully, they comb through each building, but they can’t find anything to tell them what happened to the people who used to live there. 

“Should we check further into the island?” Sky asks as the group gathers up in what could have been the town square. 

“It’s possible that the locals moved into that forest there to try and escape the monsters and the ash from the volcano,” Twilight adds as he looks at the trees. 

“We also haven’t run across that thing that I saw move, though,” Wild reminds them. They all stay silent a moment. 

“If there are people still living here, we need to find them and help them,” Time finally says. The others nod. “Let’s move into the forest. Form a line. We’ll comb through it that way to cover more ground.” They all turn towards the forest and start arranging themselves into a line as they advance. It doesn’t take terribly long to get there, but their pace slows immediately upon arrival. They start creeping around the various trunks, each Link on high alert. 

Suddenly, there’s a cacophony of screeching from somewhere in front of them. The sound is so shrill that several Links instinctively cover their ears. The trees and ground start to quake as something starts charging towards them. They barely have time to draw their weapons before a gray mass crashes through the trees and swipes at Sky and Wind. The pair manage to dive out of the way just in time. The creature turns towards Sky and screeches again with the same shrill sound. Sky grits his teeth and charges at the beast, managing to hit it with his sword a split second before it jumps into the treetops. Wild and Hyrule sprint over to Sky. 

“It’s made of stone,” Sky tells them, staring up at the treetops warily. “My sword just bounced right off its hide. It’s massive, but it only has two legs and a long tail. I couldn’t make out the face because the mouth was so huge.” Wild and Hyrule stand with their backs against Sky’s so all three of them are looking outwards around them. Suddenly, the screeching returns to their left and Wind cries out. The three boys take off in that direction to see the beast dodging Time’s and Twilight’s attacks. Warriors, Legend, and Four appear in the trees behind the beast and Warriors wastes no time in attempting to flank it. Time manages to get close enough to Wind to pull him out of danger and back to where his sword lay on the ground. Wind scoops it up immediately, but the beast jumps into the treetops once more. 

“What is that thing?” Warriors asks, keeping his eyes up. 

“We don’t know. It just dropped in on us,” Twilight responds. 

“It charged us and swiped,” Sky adds. “And my blow seemed like it just glanced off.” 

“Ours did as well,” Time points out. “We need to figure out its weak point. Did anyone get a good look at it?” 

“All I could tell was that it was made of stone,” Sky threw in. 

“I’ve fought talos before. They had a spot of ore somewhere on them that was a weak point. If you cracked it, the whole talos shattered. But this doesn’t seem like any talos I’ve ever fought,” Wild says. 

“That’s all we’ve got for now, so we’ll have to try it,” Time decides. “Everyone circle up. We need to be ready on all sides.” They all obediently put their backs together, holding their swords out towards the trees around them and waiting, listening intently to the silence around them. After several tense moments, the Links start to get anxious. 

“Nothing is happening,” Wind comments. “Could it have left?” 

“I don’t think so. It attacked us,” Twilight replies. Almost as if on cue, the beast charges through the trees right towards Four and Hyrule. The group dives in various directions out of the way and scrambles to surround the creature. It spins around and dashes at Wind once more, but Twilight jumps and strikes it on the shoulder. It screeches and swipes its tail upwards, smacking Twilight off of it and onto the ground. It goes to slam its foot on top of him, but Time jumps onto its back and brings his sword down squarely on its head. 

The screech is unbearably piercing and causes them all to flinch. The beast swings its tail around again and smacks Time off its back and into a tree. Time falls about ten feet to the ground, just managing to catch himself as he struggles to regain his breath, but the creature rushes at him, slamming and pinning him against the tree with one of its taloned hands. A sudden explosion knocks the creature backwards, dropping Time roughly to the ground once more. Wild sprints to Time’s side and helps him back on his feet while Legend sends a column of fire at the beast to fend him off. Undeterred, the beast lunges at Legend and manages to knock him off his feet as he dashes away. He rolls a few times and stumbles to get up, but manages to narrowly avoid the swipe that follows him. Time and Wild both charge at the beast and swipe their swords at its armpits as they dash underneath it. They make contact and the beast trembles, letting out another ear-piercing shriek. 

“The joints!” Time calls out with labored breath. The Links turn with renewed strength to face the beast. Wind pulls out the Wind Waker and calls the gales to buffet the beast as Warriors charges and takes his own swipes at the armpits of the beast. He manages to barely make contact and escape behind the beast, but it whips its tail around and knocks Warriors harshly aside, causing him to drop his sword as he rolls to a stop. 

“Twi! With me! Wild! Keep it off War!” Time shouts. 

Wild hucks another bomb at the beast as it raises a hand to crush Warriors. War balls up just as the bomb explodes and the creature shrieks again. Time and Twilight dash underneath it and stab the creature. The shrieks turn shrill once more, but Time and Twilight hold steady, trying to shove their swords as far into the creature as they can. 

Suddenly, the creature jumps, knocking both Twilight and Time off their feet. It lands on the tree trunks and raises its tail high in the air before slamming it down on the ground where Time and Twilight are standing. They manage to get out of the way of the tail, but the shockwaves of the slam knock them off their feet once more. The creature drops back onto the ground and quickly swipes up Time and throws him against another tree as it uses its tail to smack Twilight into Four and Legend. Wild and Warriors rush at the beast and leap into the air, a gust of green tinged wind carrying them higher than normal. They bring their swords down on its head where Time had previously struck it, burying them successfully to the hilt. 

The shrill screams of the creature reverberate through the trees and causes each Link to slam their hands over their ears in a desperate bid to shut it out. The creature shakes violently, knocking Wild and Warriors from its back, before collapsing in a heap on the ground. 

The stillness and quiet echoes hollowly and it takes a minute for anyone to move. Wind tentatively approaches the beast. 

“I...I think it’s dead,” he says. Wild and Warriors approach it more confidently but still warily. 

“Two swords to the head is probably a significant enough wound,” Warriors adds. He and Wild climb the creature’s body and struggle a little to reclaim their swords. Wild’s breaks in the process and he swears angrily at it. 

“I have a backup for you already on the ship,” Four tells him. 

“Speaking of the ship,” Time says laboriously, “Why don’t we get back there?” Wild, War, and Wind turn to look over at him. Sky is helping him to his feet. 

“You okay, old man?” Warriors asks, extremely concerned. 

“I’ll be fine. We need to get back to the ship, though. We’re in no condition,” he inhales sharply and grabs at his shoulder, “to keep going.” Sky moves to his other side and hooks Time’s arm over his shoulders. 

“Wild,” Twilight calls out. Wild, War, and Wind turn around to see Legend and Four struggling to help Twilight to his feet. Wild immediately charges over and pulls him upright a little too roughly. 

“Sorry! Sorry,” he pleads. 

“It’s fine. Just...really sore is all,” Twilight coughs a few times, causing him to put all his weight on Wild for a few moments. “Just need to get my breath back.” 

“I should heal you guys before we get back,” Hyrule offers. 

“There’s not time. If there are any other creatures like that one around…” Time doesn’t finish his thought. “We have to get back as quickly as possible.” Wild looks between Time and Twilight, concern carved into his face. “Let’s go.” The group manages to start limping back the direction they came. Wind, Four, Hyrule, and Sky seem to be the only ones completely untouched by the creature with Warriors, Legend, and Wild staggering a bit from their injuries. However, everyone can tell that Time and Twilight are putting on a brave face. The journey back to the ship feels like miles, but when they reach it, they discover another problem. 

“How are we going to get you onto the ship?” Wind asks Time and Twilight. They look up at the ship and Twilight looks over at Time. 

“Make a seat out of rope and lower it down to us. We can sit in it for you to lift us up,” Time instructs. 

“On it!” Sky says. He swiftly climbs aboard the ship and furiously starts knotting together various ropes. Wind and Legend climb up and help him finish the seat off, then the three of them lower it over the edge. Wild, Warriors, and Four help Time and Twilight into it and climb up to help lift both men up. It’s a rough process, but the pair are soon standing on the deck of the ship. 

“Okay, let’s pull out!” Wind calls. “Four, Legend, Warriors let’s get going.” 

“Sky, Wild, help me get these guys to the beds,” Hyrule says. Hyrule leads the way below deck and into the barracks. Sky and Wild delicately lay Twilight and Time in their respective beds, then make their way back on deck to help Wind and the others get the ship moving as fast as possible, leaving Hyrule to begin his rather extensive work with the two oldest Links.


	4. The Masks We Wear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys sail back towards familiar lands as Hyrule works to heal Twilight and Time. However, Twilight is not the happiest when he returns to the others.

Night arrives and Wind has the boys on deck put up sails and set out the anchor as they have done the past few weeks of their voyaging. Besides, he reasons, everyone is still exhausted from that fight with that stone monster this afternoon. No one even asks for justification and all start heading down below deck to figure out watches and get some food. 

Wild sets about getting their food ready while Warriors and Four check the schedule of watches. Wind drops into a chair and lets himself slide down a little into a more comfortable, slightly reclined position. He notices that Wild is frowning as he digs through his bag. “What’s up, Wild?” he asks. 

“I just...a lot of my potions are missing. Literally every stamina potion I made is gone and a bunch of pretty much random ones are also missing. Did one of you guys take them?” Wild asks, looking from one Link to the other. They all shake their heads at him and he goes back to digging annoyedly through his bag, searching for the missing potions. “It’s not that big a deal, but these should really be rationed while we’re sailing. I haven’t been able to find good ingredients for new potions in forever.” 

“We’ll try and find a safe island to explore next. Then you can see if there is anything good enough there,” Wind offers. Wild just nods and tosses his bag down, having found the bottle of spices he was after. 

The door to the barracks opens and Twilight steps out. 

“Twi!” the others call out, but everyone freezes a second later as they take in the grim expression on his face. Wild tosses the spices into the pot, stirs it quickly, and approaches him. 

“Twi? You okay? You really took some nasty hits there,” he comments. 

“I’m...mostly fine,” Twi says shortly. 

“Mostly?” 

“Yeah. Hyrule healed me up pretty well, but I’m still really sore. Not much he could do for that besides tell me to sleep.” Twilight still has not made eye contact with any of the other Links. 

“That’s not so bad…” Wild’s voice is quiet. 

“Yeah…” Twilight walks past Wild and goes straight over to the watch list, scanning it quickly. “War, Four, you need to take Time’s and ‘Rule’s watches for tonight.” 

“Um...sure,” Warriors says. “Is ‘Rule too wiped out from healing you both to stay up that long?” The words come out very delicately and Twilight continues to stare at the watch list. Slowly, he puts a hand to his face the way that they’ve all seen Time do so many times. 

“Time is dying.” 

The words hang icily in the air between them all. Every Link feels his heart drop into his stomach and they can’t help but stare at Twilight’s back. 

“What do you mean he’s dying?” Legend asks. 

“He has this weird bruise...it’s on his stomach here.” Twilight finally turns around and gestures across a spot on his stomach. “Every time ‘Rule heals it, it comes back. And any time ‘Rule or I touched it, he punched us and passed out.” Twilight stares at the floor a few moments while everyone waits for him to speak again. Finally, he lifts his eyes and looks at Wild. “We used some of your potions. I hope that’s okay. ‘Rule was getting tired and...desperate.” They can all tell Twilight is struggling to keep his voice calm. 

“Yeah of course. Totally fine. He can have whatever he needs for this. Is that why you came out? I can help you find another one,” Wild says quickly, diving for his bag and rummaging back through it. 

“There aren’t other potions that will help,” Twilight says flatly. 

“There has to be something,” Wild pleads. Twilight has dropped his gaze to the floor again and the silence screams at them all. 

“What do we do if he...you know?” Warriors asks Twilight quietly. Twilight looks over at War, who looks at a loss, and then he scans the room. All the other Links are looking at him, waiting for some sort of instruction. Twilight sighs heavily and puts his hand back to his face. 

“We find a way to get him back to Malon. That’s where he should be right now. Not here in this fucking ship,” Twilight responds quietly. Tears come to Wind’s eyes and he pulls his knees up to his chest, hugging them tightly against him. 

“I’m so sorry,” Wind manages to choke out. 

“It’s not your fault. None of us could have stopped this from happening,” Twilight replies, his voice flat once more. “He was just doing what any of us would have done. Hell, if I had hit a few more trees, I’m pretty sure I’d be dying, too. It wasn’t you,” he says, looking at Wind. “It was that creature.” Wind can no longer suppress his tears and he starts sobbing. He throws himself at Twilight, who gently hugs him as he wails. The shock starts to wear off the other Links and they find themselves struggling to keep from joining Wind in his laments. Warriors clears his throat. 

“How much time does he have?” he asks. 

“Not much. At the rate the bruise keeps appearing and spreading, maybe a day,” Twilight says after a moment. “We need to start trying to force a portal shift immediately.” Twilight looks at Warriors with a sudden fire in his eyes. “We can’t just leave him here like this.” Warriors stands, slightly emboldened. 

“What do we do to start?” Twilight looks among the others as they wait for his answer. 

“I...I’m not really the magic guy here. I don’t know what to suggest,” he admits. 

“You’ve been in this group the longest besides me,” Warriors points out. “There must be something in common between all the po--” The barracks door opening cuts Warriors off and they all whip around to see Hyrule leaned heavily against the door as he closes it. Twilight immediately lets go of Wind and races to Hyrule. 

“What’s going on? What happened?” he asks a little more desperately than he had meant to. 

“I can’t do it anymore…” Hyrule whispers, trembling with tears going down his face. “I’m out of magic and potions. I can’t heal him anymore.” He sinks to his feet and leans against the door, covering his face with his hands. Twilight puts a hand against the door to steady himself. As if remembering himself, he straightens up and his face returns to its usual stoic manner. He turns back to face the others and clears his throat. 

“Wind. We need to get back to familiar territory and find somewhere we can get ingredients for potions or buy potions to help ‘Rule get his magic back. We’ll need it to try and force a portal shift, so wherever we go there has to be a lot of resources.” Wind nods, still trembling but no longer crying. “War. We need to start figuring out those commonalities you were talking about with the portal shifts. Start getting down as many details as possible to see if anything lines up and have the others help you out.” War nods firmly and starts rooting around for parchment. “Wild. We still need food, so finish cooking.” 

“Oh my god the food!” Wild dashes back over to the forgotten pot and frantically starts stirring it, hoping nothing is burned. 

“Legend, Four, Sky. Get some rest. Once Wind gets a course set, you three will need to help him get the ship moving.” They look for a moment at the barracks door. “Just sleep in those chairs there,” Twilight adds. “I don’t think it’ll take Wind long anyway.” 

“What should we do?” Hyrule asks him quietly. 

“You should sleep, too. I don’t know how you’re still up right now with how much energy you’ve been using,” Twilight says gently. 

“But what about--” 

“I’ll watch over him. Everything will be fine.” Hyrule doesn’t seem to buy it, but he doesn’t argue either. He moves over to where Legend, Four, and Sky have started making temporary beds for themselves. Twilight turns to face the door. Taking a deep breath, he re-enters the barracks. 

Time is on the cot directly in the center of the room. His bloodied and ripped shirt is tossed carelessly aside, but Hyrule covered him with a blanket before he left. It takes Twilight several moments to gather up the strength to approach Time. Carefully, he sits down on the stool Hyrule had previously occupied. He reaches out his hand, but hesitates before placing it on Time’s. He notices it shaking and he tries desperately to control it. The harder he tries, the more it shakes. He becomes aware suddenly of the tears streaming down his face and his breath shuddering in his chest. Taking his hand back, he buries his face and tries to sob quietly so the others don’t hear him through the door. 

“Twi?” Twilight’s head snaps up and he sees Time’s eye flutter open. Quickly, he grasps Time’s hand. 

“I’m here, Time. Right here,” he says, trying to keep his voice steady. 

“My...my bag,” Time replies through labored breath. Twilight sprints over to Time’s stuff and grabs the bag, bringing it over as quickly as he can. Gently, he places the bag on the bed next to Time. Slowly and with some wincing and sharp inhales, Time rifles through his bag. 

“Can I get it for you? Would that be easier?” Twilight asks. 

“No…I’m so sorry, Twi,” Time says, apparently pausing in his search. 

“Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Twi can feel the tears starting to come back. 

“I’m about to.” Twi’s heart stops a moment. Before he can react, Time pulls the Fierce Deity mask out of his bag and puts it on.


	5. Stasis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Time in a bind, Twilight is left to lead the boys in an effort to rescue their fearless leader.

“NO!” Twilight shouts. 

Time’s screams send shockwaves through the room and knock Twilight backwards off the stool, nearly slamming him into the door. He scrambles to right himself as the door bursts open and Warriors, Legend, Sky, Four, and Hyrule pour in. Twi stands and they all look over at the bed where Time had been laying. Time sits up slowly, hair suddenly gray, and then looks over. The group of Links unconsciously takes a step back as two eyes burn into them. After a pause, the Time stands, causing the blanket that was covering him to slip away and reveal an enormous and deeply purple bruise spanning almost his entire stomach. 

“Well, well, well,” Time says in an unfamiliar voice. “This is a predicament isn’t it.” A dark grin spreads across Time’s face as he considers the group of Links before him. 

“What’s going on? What did you do to Time!” Hyrule shouts. 

“I’m currently doing what you have failed to, so if I were you I would be much nicer to me,” the voice says, glaring at Hyrule. 

“What do you mean?” Twilight asks shortly. The eyes look at Twilight with a trace of amusement in them. 

“That one there, Hyrule was it? So desperate in his attempts to save this Time of yours. He knew, of course, that you would never be able to. He just didn’t want to admit it. He has always had a soft spot in his heart for the feelings of others,” the voice says, clearly annoyed. “But it’s no matter. Now that he has given himself to me, he will never die. That is, so long as he doesn’t take off my beloved mask again.” The voice chuckles lightly. “He always was a fun one to play with, though it has been so long since last he allowed it.” 

“So...so he’s okay? You’re healing him?” Four asks cautiously. 

“Don’t be ridiculous. I am the Fierce Deity. Whether or not this Time dies once he removes my mask is of no consequence to me. Plenty of others are more than willing to host me and someone always does in the end.” The Fierce Deity grins at them again. 

“But you can’t fight well if the body is injured,” Twilight points out coldly. The Fierce Deity’s grin falters slightly. 

“That does put a damper on things, yes. A problem I believe you were already trying to resolve, is it not?” Twilight hesitates a moment, then nods. “Splendid. Then I shall assist you in your quest to heal Time’s body.” 

“What’s the catch?” Twilight asks quickly as the other Links start to perk up. 

“Please. Can I not be generous just for kindness’s sake?” Fierce Deity asks. 

“Not according to what Time has told me about you.” Fierce Deity grins darkly at him once more. 

“It has been far too long since I’ve had proper fun in this realm. Find me a proper bit of fun and I shall willingly return Time to you. Assuming, of course, that you have found your way to save his life.” The other Links stare at Twilight as the pause lengthens. 

“Fine,” Twilight finally says. Fierce Deity laughs a moment and claps his hands together once. 

“Very well! So then, what is your current method for attempting to save your Time?” he asks. 

“We need to make a realm jump. Can you do that?” Twilight asks shortly. 

“Of course I can. How else do you think I can occupy this mask and body? However.” The hope the Links had started to feel instantly dies. “I am an ethereal being by nature and am not tied down to your mortal bodies. Transporting your bodies is quite impossible with my methods, I can assure you.” The dark glint in his eyes makes Twilight doubt he’s telling the truth. 

“Fine. Then stay here as we figure it out. Keep still so that Time’s body doesn’t get more injured and you’ll be able to enjoy your...bit of fun when we get to it,” Twilight replies just as darkly. The Fierce Deity lays back down on the cot and puts its hands behind its head, chuckling to itself as the Links exit the room and close the door. 

“What the hell is that thing?” Warriors asks Twilight quietly as they make their way up on deck. 

“That’s the Fierce Deity. He scarred Time the last time he wore that mask. That’s where those markings on his face come from. He’s an extremely powerful warrior spirit that Time once channeled to help him defeat an enemy when he was a child, but it’s constantly blood thirsty and always demands death in exchange for its help,” Twilight tells them. 

“So why didn’t he start fighting us when Time put the mask on?” Legend asks. 

“It’s like I said. Time’s body is so badly injured that the Fierce Deity can’t properly use it to fight. He’s probably helping us only because Time has been holding the mask for years and hasn’t used him all this time,” Twilight explains. 

“So...he’s helping us because he’s bored?” Four asks. Twilight nods. 

“The alternative would be to not occupy Time’s body and just allow him to die so that someone else can take the mask, but it must know that none of us would because Time always spoke badly of it whenever we asked.” 

“He’s trapped and this is his only way out then,” Warriors adds. Twilight nods at him. “Well...this must have been what Time wanted, right? Otherwise he wouldn’t have put the mask on after all this time.” Twilight stares at the deck for several moments before nodding again. 

“He must have some reason to do this. He hasn’t ever been afraid to die in the time that I’ve known him. Something else is going on here that he hasn’t told us about yet,” Twilight says. 

“I know this is likely a bad time with whatever the hell just happened,” Wild says as he emerges from below deck, “but the food is ready.” 

“The night is clear. Can you bring it on deck for us. We have a lot to talk about,” Twilight replies. Wild nods and disappears below deck once more, reemerging with the pot of food and his bag with the plates in it. Wind joins the group and as everyone settles in, Twilight explains to them what they missed and the situation they’re in. Wild starts smiling brightly as Twilight finishes his explanation. 

“This is perfect!” he declares. The others look at him incredulously. “Don’t you remember? I nearly died and Zelda brought me back. If we can figure out how to force a portal shift to my Hyrule, we can take him to the Shrine of Resurrection and heal him there!” 

“What’s this bit of fun that he wants, though? Could he do it in your Hyrule?” Warriors asks. 

“There are loads of corrupted guardians that he could just go to town on. It’ll be perfect!” 

“No.” They all turn to look at Twilight, whose face has remained stoic since the Fierce Deity emerged. “The guardians won’t do. They’re not alive. It has to kill something.” Wild’s smile and optimism falter a little. 

“Well...maybe a molduga? There are plenty in Gerudo Desert and they’re pretty big. I know four places they like to dig their hollows.” Wild wilts further as Twilight’s silence lengthens. 

“I know a place in my Hyrule that would be good for it to have its bit of fun. If we can manage to force two portal shifts, then we’re set.” The rest of the Links start talking all at once, generally angrily and stupefied at trying to force two jumps when one already seems impossible. “Do you want Time back or not!” Twilight shouts at them. Silence falls over the group and Twilight realizes he’s clenching his fists. He takes a deliberate breath and puts his hands flat on the deck in front of him a moment. “I...I already have an idea on how to do two jumps. I just...don’t do magic.” 

“I can help with that,” Hyrule chimes in hesitantly. Twilight looks at him and nods. 

“Good. I kinda hoped you would be up for it.” 

“So...what is this plan of yours?” Warriors asks. 

“Well the first step is the same as what I already said earlier. We need to rest and get back to familiar territory so we can replenish our supplies. Time’s out of imminent danger, so we need to start stocking up and trying things as soon as possible. Before it gets bored with Time,” Twilight adds in, trying to make it seem like an afterthought. The others nod soberly and Wild starts gathering up the extra food and dirty dishes. Twilight stands and makes his way below deck with the others behind him. Standing up straight and with his stoic face back in place, he reenters the barracks and calmly makes his way back towards his cot without even looking at Fierce Deity. The others follow suit, but several of them can’t help but glance over at the stranger wearing Time’s face and are rewarded with a dark grin in their directions. Uneasily, the 8 Links manage to drift off to sleep.


	6. Fun with Portals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who do you turn to when trying to force a magical portal to another dimension to appear before you? Twilight and Wild of course!

“Am I supposed to be closing my eyes, too?” Wild whispers a little loudly. Twilight lets go of Wild’s hands and whirls around to face Hyrule. 

“This isn’t WORKING,” he says frustratedly. 

“Don’t you yell at him!” Legend shouts back. Twilight puts a hand over his eyes and starts taking a few deep breaths while Wild and Hyrule look at each other. 

“So...was I supposed to close my eyes?” Wild asks cautiously. 

“It generally helps I think, but it’s not really necessary,” Hyrule answers. 

“Why isn’t this working?” Twilight asks more calmly. 

“Magic is tricky to be able to do on command. Neither of you have ever done it before, so it makes it that much harder,” Hyrule says. 

“Isn’t there any way that you could do it?” 

“Twi, I don’t have a connection to this Midna person or to this shrine place. There’s nothing that I would be able to direct my magic towards to help produce a portal.” Twilight lets out a sigh and looks out around him. The ship is drifting slightly off shore of this incredibly tiny island they had come across on their way back towards familiar territory. Sky and Warriors are a little ways away trying to get dinner figured out since Wild is busy and Four and Wind are lazing around on their bed rolls. The Fierce Deity is sitting on a fallen tree trunk close to Four and Wind and is grinning slightly maliciously in Twilight’s direction. Twilight scowls at him and turns back to face Wild and Hyrule. 

“Explain it again,” he says. Legend lets out an exasperated sigh and Hyrule shoots him an evil look before standing and approaching Twilight and Wild. 

“You have to tap into the connection you have to this Midna person. You said she has magic, so that should help. You have to get to the point that you can feel the magic around you and then let it become part of you. You have to be vulnerable to it, but you need to keep control, too.” 

“Those are literally opposites,” Twilight retorts. 

“Only because you think they are,” Hyrule snaps. 

“Let’s just try again, Twi. I’ll close my eyes this time,” Wild offers, extending his hands out in front of him. Twilight scowls at the ground, grabs Wild’s hands, and closes his eyes. Both Links fall silent and Hyrule and Legend watch closely, though Legend for one expects nothing. After several moments, Wild peeks an eye open and glances over at Hyrule, who shakes his head. Wild’s eye closes again. Another few moments pass by and then Twilight throws down Wild’s hand again. 

“This is pointless. It’s not going to work,” he says. 

“Only because you keep thinking it won’t,” Hyrule snaps. 

“Yeah, well, I don’t know how to unthink it because this is the fifth time we’ve tried and nothing has happened, ‘Rule!” 

“I said not to shout at him!” Legend jumps in, standing between Twilight and Hyrule. “It’s not his fault you suck at magic!” Twilight’s fury shows on his face for a split second, then he turns around and stalks off towards the opposite edge of the island where there’s a little grove of trees overlooking the water. Legend huffs once and glares at Wild, who immediately holds his hands up. 

“I’ll just go check on him,” Wild says quickly, bouncing after Twilight. 

Twilight had sat down by the edge of the little cliff between the grove and the beach and was staring rather aggressively at the setting sun. Wild sits down right next to him, allowing him almost no space, and also begins watching the sunset. 

“So,” Wild says after a few moments of silence, “Magic huh?” Twilight sighs frustratedly and puts a hand to his forehead. “But really though. This stuff isn’t easy. I’m not sure if I’m understanding the whole controlled vulnerable thing either. With practice, though, I’m sure we’ll get it.” Wild nods once, assuredly, and smiles a little at Twilight. 

“How are you always so upbeat?” 

“Well, I’ve already basically died once, so I figure I might as well be happy about my bonus life.” Twilight doesn’t seem to react. “Besides. I apparently wasn’t like this before I basically died,” he throws in, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Twilight. Twilight glances similarly back. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Wild turns to full face him. 

“I talked to Zelda about it once. She said that I never used to talk to her. Like at all. Even before I got the Master Sword, I apparently rarely spoke and was just obsessed with training. When I got assigned to her, she actually thought I was mute and deaf, too, since I never cracked a smile or anything.” Twilight turns to look at Wild more directly, a skeptical look on his face. 

“That’s difficult to imagine,” he says. 

“Well,” Wild puts a hand pensively on his chin, “just picture Warriors, but without any of the charisma or sense of humor...so basically you.” Wild grins broadly and Twilight lightly shoves him, a tiny smile playing at his lips. Wild laughs a little and rights himself as Twilight looks back over towards the sunset. “I’m sure you were different before your adventure, too, right?” After a moment, Twilight nods. 

“Yeah. I was a lot more relaxed. All I had to do in the day was help Fado with the goats and sometimes play with the kids from the village. I was...a bit happier before,” Twilight finishes a little softer. 

“You can always get back to that,” Wild offers. Twilight doesn’t respond, but he does put a hand to his chest, feeling the necklace with the black and orange talisman beneath his clothing. 

“Apparently not,” Twilight says flatly. At a loss, Wild turns to face the sunset again. The sun is almost halfway below the horizon before Twilight speaks again, barely audible this time: “I can’t lose another loved one, Wild.” Wild looks over and is slightly surprised to see a tear stuck in the corner of Twilight’s eye as if barely held back. 

“You’re not going to,” Wild insists, putting a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. Twi closes his eyes and takes a ragged breath as the tear rolls down his cheek. He clutches the talisman beneath his shirt tightly and Wild wraps his arms around him, hugging him gently and resting his head on Twi’s shoulder. He can feel Twi trembling as he attempts to keep his breathing under control. 

Faintly, Wild starts to hear an unusual sound. He opens his eyes and looks around, but can’t seem to find the source of it. It starts to grow louder and even Twilight notices it, though his eyes are slightly wider than Wild’s. Hurriedly, he pulls his necklace out from under his shirt and the Links can see the usual orange lines of it have a faint blue tinge to them. They only have time to glance at one another before a blue light bursts from it, blinding them for a moment. When they are finally able to see again, they notice a blocky black splotch with blue, squared lines in the sky above them. 

“Oh shit,” Twilight breathes. Wild cheers and leaps to his feet. 

“RUUUUULE! RULE WE DID IT!” Wild tears back towards the others, pointing up at the hole in the sky above Twilight, who has stood up on shaky legs. He can hear the sound of the others cheering, but he can’t pull his eyes away from the warp portal he thought he’d never see again. He’s not sure how long he stood there and stared at it, but it was long enough for the Links to gather up their stuff and come over to him. 

“Okay, Twi!” Wild says cheerfully. “How does this work then? It’s too high to jump and I don’t think hooks will work with it.” Wild drapes an arm across Twilight’s shoulders, causing him to jump slightly and glance over at Wild. 

“Oh. Um...I think I just...will us through it?” Legend raises an eyebrow in his direction, but Hyrule roughly jabs him with his elbow before Legend says anything. 

“I’ll help. You haven’t seen the Shrine of Resurrection, so you don’t know what to aim for.” Wild shifts his stance to be more balanced and holds a hand out to Twilight, who takes it without hesitation and looks back up at the portal. The other Links and the Fierce Deity all put a hand on one of the two and glance upwards at the portal as well. “Eyes closed!” Wild announces as he does so. For some reason, all the other Links do as well. Twilight takes a steadying breath, trying to keep focused on the task at hand. A few moments pass without anything happening, but a familiar feeling starts to come over Twilight. It feels as though the top of his head has started to tingle. Slowly, the tingling spreads down through his whole body until he can feel nothing except the tingling sensation for several moments. Then it begins to slowly dissipate starting from his feet and slipping up and out of his body through his head. 

The Links slowly start opening their eyes and are greeted by the sight of the Great Plateau. Wild immediately starts cheering, dropping all his and Twilight’s stuff and running to the nearest tree. He dashes up it and looks around. “We made it!” he calls to the others below. The sound of his words breaks them from their shock and they start to split up and look at the area around them. Twilight hears the Fierce Deity chuckle and looks over at him. 

“What an interesting travel method. One I’ve not seen in ages. I must say that I’m surprised you’ve kept it quiet this long,” the Fierce Deity says with what seems to be genuine praise in his voice. Twilight frowns slightly at this, but remembers himself and looks over at Wild. 

“Wild! The shrine?” he calls out. 

“We’re already here,” Wild responds, swinging back down out of the tree and landing unceremoniously in front of Twilight again. “It’s right through th--” his words catch as he points behind Twilight. Twi turns and looks where Wild is pointing before freezing himself. 

“Link? What’s going on?” Princess Zelda asks from her spot at the entrance of a cave. “Who are these people?” she asks, looking between the various Links in sight. 

“Uh...Zelda...this is me?” Wild looks uncertainly at Twilight. Twilight rolls his eyes and turns to face Zelda. 

“Princess, we are each different incarnations of the Spirit of the Hero. We’ve been traveling together for a while now and...one of us was severely injured.” He glances at Fierce Deity, who is considering Zelda with great interest. “Wild here said we could use the Shrine of Resurrection to help heal him.” Zelda blinks at him a few times and then looks back at Wild, who nods vigorously. 

“Is it able to be used again?” Wild asks. 

“What?!” Twilight turns to Wild. 

“Oh, well. It took a big amount of energy to revive me, so it needed recharge time,” Wild stutters. 

“So we came all this way and it might not even work?” Twilight asks darkly. 

“It’s operational,” Zelda says firmly as she steps forward. “It’s nowhere near capacity to revive someone as I had Link revived, but it’s good enough to heal someone.” Twilight clears his throat and stands up straighter. 

“I apologize. We’ve been under a lot of strain because of this injury.” The Fierce Deity grins and Twilight tries his best not to react. 

“This is the injured one?” Zelda asks, pointing to Fierce Deity. 

“Yes,” Twilight answers shortly. 

“Come this way then.” Without waiting for Twilight’s reply, she turns and starts heading back into the cave. Wild immediately follows her, acting much calmer than he had been moments earlier, and Twi gestures for the Fierce Deity to go next. It grins at him but does follow Wild into the cave. They reach the back where they find a tub with some faintly blue glowing water in it. “You should take off your shirt and pants before getting in to keep them dry,” Zelda says, turning her back to the center of the room. 

The Fierce Deity does as she suggested before lying down in the tub. The water is surprisingly warm and comforting. Zelda turns back around and pulls out her Sheikah Slate, deliberately not looking at the Fierce Deity. She starts doing something on her slate and the water starts to rise. The blue glow of it grows a little stronger as well. 

“Close your eyes and sleep. Your body will be healed when you wake up,” she says. The three watch closely as the Fierce Deity slows its breathing and the body starts to relax. After a few moments, Zelda seems satisfied and motions for Twilight and Wild to follow her. Once out of the room, Zelda closes the doors and turns to face Wild. “That thing is not one of you,” she says immediately. 

“No, but it’s holding one of us hostage and we need it healed to get him back,” Wild explains. 

“Well with the size of that injury, it’ll take several days at least. I’ve been making improvements to it, so this is a convenient test run,” she says. 

“So you’ll be hanging around with us for a few days then?” Wild asks hopefully. Zelda looks at him and slowly loses the ability to keep from smiling. 

“Yes, I think I will be,” she replies. Wild smiles brightly and grabs her hand. 

“Let me introduce you to the others!” he says excitedly, nearly dragging her behind him as he races out of the cave. She scrambles to keep up, but her laughs echo back towards Twilight, who can’t help but smile.


	7. Loopholes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys find themselves in Twilight's Hyrule and are ready to finish the deal with the Fierce Deity. The Fierce Deity, however, has other plans.

“I must say, that shrine is rather incredible stuff,” the Fierce Deity comments, flexing various muscles to show off how nicely he’s been healed. The other Links shift around a little uncomfortably, but Twilight stares directly at him with his stoic face on. 

“I’m glad I was able to upgrade it in time for this usage,” Zelda says a little flatly. She turns to face Wild and Twilight. “I’ll keep working on it to shorten the time as much as is reasonable. Three weeks could be risky in the future.” 

“100 years was definitely risky, too,” Legend mutters under his breath. Wild kicks at him and he narrowly dodges it. 

“She did her best getting it ready for me then and it literally brought me back from the dead. Compared to that, a fatal injury is nothing,” Wild snaps at him. Zelda gently puts a hand on his shoulder and he looks at her. She gives him a faint smile and turns back to Twilight. 

“I hope our supplies will last however long is necessary for your next adventure. If you’re ever able to come back, please feel free to find me again. Link should be able to contact me through his slate. I’ll be curious to see if the messages can carry across realms,” she says excitedly. Twilight smiles a little at her. 

“Thank you for all your help, Princess. We’ll certainly try to keep in touch,” he says. 

“Okay! Let’s get to a clear patch so we can try to make another portal shift,” Hyrule calls out from a little ways away. “It looks like there’s a space over here that will work.” The others and Zelda grab their stuff and leave the little wooded area they’ve called home for the past few weeks. The clearing Hyrule found doesn’t take long to reach and they all start to set their stuff back down. Wild and Twilight go to the center of the clearing and face each other. 

“Ready?” Wild asks optimistically. Twilight hesitates a second, then takes Wild’s outstretched hands. “Okay. Eyes closed. Feel whatever the hell we did to get the portal open the first time.” Twi takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, trying to focus on the feeling of the talisman against his chest. The others wait anxiously, but after several moments it’s clear that nothing is happening. Wild cautiously peeks open an eye. “Uh...Twi?” 

“It’s not working.” 

“No…” Twi lets go of Wild’s hands and considers the ground beside them. “Do we...uh...have to have another conversation?” Wild is clearly hesitant to elaborate in front of the others. Twilight looks around and up at the sky. 

“I think we have to wait until sunset. That was when it worked last time,” he comments. 

“Why sunset?” Zelda asks as she approaches. 

“The person I’m trying to contact has the strongest magic at sunset. She’s...in a very different realm even from mine, so I’m sure it’s probably difficult to just open these portals at random for her like this,” Twi guesses. 

“Makes sense to me,” Wild accepts. “In the meantime, let’s go crash a bokoblin camp.” A mischievous glint appears in his eyes. 

“Let’s do it!” Legend replies. He and Hyrule run after Wild in the direction of the nearest bokoblin camp. 

“Are…are you going to stop them or anything?” Zelda asks Twilight. 

“They can handle some bokoblins,” Twilight waves off. “Wild said this area is very safe, so I’m sure they can’t get in too much trouble.” They hear an explosion from the direction the boys had run off and Zelda grabs Twi’s arm with concern. He gestures in the direction of the explosion. “See? It’s already working out like Wild likes.” He grins ever so slightly at her and she can’t tell if he’s being serious or not. 

The Links gather back up as the sun starts to set. All their stuff has been repacked and they all stand fairly close to Wild and Twilight, who have again taken each other’s hands and closed their eyes. Zelda stands off to one side trying to make it less obvious that she’s recording this on her Sheikah slate. The other Links start to get anxious as the sun dips lower and lower, but at the last light a portal appears in the sky above them. Quickly, they all grab hold of Wild and Twilight and are overcome by the tingling sensation from before. When the sensation ends, they all open their eyes. Night has fallen over a desert and they are on some sort of column above the sand. 

“We’re here,” Twilight says. They start to drop their stuff off as Twilight approaches the Fierce Deity. “This is the place where you can have your fun and then return Time to us.” The Fierce Deity looks around and frowns. 

“Boy, this is literally the middle of the desert. Unless you’re suggesting a challenge yourself?” It grins darkly at Twilight, who simply shakes his head. 

“We’re at the top of the Tower of Ordeals. It’s got 50 floors of nothing but monsters and enemies for you to battle. That should be enough for ‘a bit of fun’ don’t you agree?” Twilight asks flatly. 

“Yes, it would be a bit of fun,” the Fierce Deity replies with a smirk. “Is that the entrance there?” It points to the platform slightly higher than theirs. 

“Yeah. This set of stairs here will lead you right to it. It’s literally a hole in the ground.” Twilight walks the Fierce Deity up the stairs and to the entrance of the Tower of Ordeals. “We’ll be up here waiting for you when you finish.” The Fierce Deity chuckles darkly and pulls out its double helixed sword. 

“I’ll take my time to enjoy this wonderful opportunity to the fullest,” it says maliciously as it vanishes into the entrance. Twilight goes back down the stairs to rejoin the group, who are all looking at him with various levels of anxiety. 

“Did he go down?” Wind asks. 

“Yeah. I don’t know how long he’ll be down there, but we’ll need to set up watches to make sure we get up when he returns. The enemies in the desert can’t reach us up here, so we should be safe from anything below us,” Twilight says. The others nod and they all start dividing watches. The whole night and part of the next day passes before the Fierce Deity emerges from the Tower of Ordeals with a malicious smile on its face. It comes down the stairs to the lower platform where all the other Links have stood up from their various pass times. 

“That was a good time, I must say. I’m surprised you knew about a place like this. You’re just full of dark secrets aren’t you,” it says to Twilight. Twilight seems unphased. 

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. Now we’d like you to give us back Time so we can be back on our way,” Twilight says calmly. The Fierce Deity chuckles. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll give up your precious Time. But I’m not quite done with him yet I think.” The malicious smile returns to its face as Twilight frowns. 

“We made a deal. We let you have your fun and we get Time back after he’s healed,” Twilight insists. 

“Oh don’t misunderstand. I fully intend on giving you Time back. However, you failed to make the timing of it part of the deal.” The Fierce Deity starts cackling as the realization of the error strikes each Link. Twilight takes an angry step forward. 

“You know full well we meant to get him back immediately.” 

“Knowing and saying are two different things,” the Fierce Deity responds, waggling a finger in Twilight’s face. “And to think you were the one he held up so highly among the others.” 

“Give him back to us!” Wild puts a hand on Twilight’s shoulder to stop him from taking another step forward. The Fierce Deity cackles again. 

“Oh please. Your failure to be specific doesn’t mean you won’t see him again. He owes me much more than your bit of fun for refusing to wear me for so long and I intend to have him make up for it.” A darkness starts coming over the Fierce Deity’s face. “But don’t worry. I’ll make sure that he sees you, his precious son, on his deathbed.” 

Twilight roars furiously and charges at the Fierce Deity, shoving Wild off him as he draws his sword. Laughing, the Fierce Deity easily dodges the charge and blocks the swings of Twi’s blade. He pulls the double helix blade out of the air and smacks Twilight with the flat of it full force, sending Twilight flying off the platform and into the sand below. Twilight rolls several times before he’s able to stop himself. Frantically, he looks around for his sword and charges for it as the Fierce Deity drops into the sand behind him. 

“Now this is fun!” the Fierce Deity shouts, sending a wave of magic out of the end of his sword directly at Twilight. Twi barely ducks in time, throwing himself into a slide across the sand at his sword. He grabs it and whirls around, barely blocking the slash from the Fierce Deity. The attacks come out him so quickly he has to backpedal quite a ways just to keep himself defended. Suddenly, the Fierce Deity changes his pattern and a slash gets through Twi’s defensive strikes. Twi screams as the double helix blade rips across his chest. He falls backwards and barely manages to put his sword up to block a downward slash. 

Twilight kicks out one of the Fierce Deity’s ankles and rolls backwards onto his feet as the Fierce Deity stumbles a moment. Twi leaps forward, stabbing at the Fierce Deity with all his fury, but the Deity manages to sidestep in time. Twi’s vision explodes as he feels the flat of the helix blade smack him in the back of the head. He stumbles forward and back into the sand as a second slash rips across his back. He screams again and turns, trying desperately to see through his blurry vision and holding up his sword at random to defend himself. Several more slashes cut into his arms and chest before his vision comes back and he’s able to see the Fierce Deity’s grin. Twi ducks below one of the slashes, grabs a handful of sand, and throws it at the Fierce Deity’s face. 

The Fierce Deity lets out a startled cry and takes a few steps backwards. Twi pulls himself to his feet and throws himself at the Fierce Deity. The two fall into the sand and wrestle for position as Twilight desperately claws at where he thinks the edges of the mask are. The Fierce Deity manages to lock one of Twi’s arms against his side and flips him onto his stomach, shoving his face roughly into the sand. With a twist, Twi screams as his arm breaks. The Deity picks him up by the back of his neck and throws him. Twi rolls to a stop and tries desperately to pick himself back up, but the pain from his arm and his various sand-filled cuts is blacking out his vision. He manages to get himself onto his knees and looks vaguely around for his sword only to discover that the Fierce Deity has picked it up and is walking slowly over towards him. 

“Well well well,” it’s saying. “This has certainly been fun. Such a shame that you invalidated our deal by attacking me. Now you’ll never see Time again. But don’t worry. I’m still keeping my end of the bargain. He can see you right now. On your deathbed.” The malicious laugh escapes from his lips as he starts charging at Twi. Twi attempts to raise himself up into a defensible position, but can’t summon the energy to move at all. His vision starts to fade more quickly as the Fierce Deity reaches him and raises Twilight’s sword up to slam down on him. The moment he brings the sword down, something flashes across his face. The hilt of Twi’s sword slams into Twilight’s head as the Fierce Deity slips in the sand trying to stop and crashes into Twilight. Twi is slammed onto his back as the Deity drops the sword and rolls over him. Twi struggles to keep his eyes open, but the fresh wound on his head pulses horrendously. Twilight coughs weakly and his vision goes dark as the Fierce Deity gets to his feet.


	8. Home Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twilight finds himself back in his own home, where he has an unexpected visitor and a hard-earned reunion.

Twilight groans and shifts uncomfortably, trying to get the pressure off of the ache coming from his back. Shifting onto his side doesn’t seem to help either. Slowly, Twi opens his eyes and blinks back the light. To his surprise, he sees his own bedroom loft before him. He sits up, wincing slightly from the soreness all across his body and the throbbing of his head, and looks around. Sure enough, he is back in his own house. 

“Link!” Twi looks down at the main floor and sees Colin scrambling over towards the ladder. “You’re awake!” Colin emerges at the top of the ladder and makes a serious effort to hug Twilight gently. “Beth will be so jealous that you woke up on my watch. She left maybe half an hour ago.” 

“On your watch?” Twi asks, confused. 

“Yeah. You’ve been out for a long time now. You got pretty beat up from what we could see. Beth was scared you were going to die, but Dad said they were all just really bad scratches.” Colin smiles brightly at him. 

“HEEEEEEYYYY!” comes a voice through the window. Colin and Twilight glance over at it and Colin runs over to it. 

“Fado! We’ll be there soon!” Colin calls out. 

“Just don’t forget Epona! We’re not having any luck running the goats in ourselves!” comes Fado’s voice. Colin laughs and waves goodbye before plopping on the bed next to Twilight. 

“I’ll go outside and start getting Epona ready. She’s been waiting for you. Not even Ilia can get her to leave her little grove. Make sure you’re careful coming down okay?” 

“I will. Thanks for watching over me,” Twilight says, smiling at Colin and ruffling his hair a little. Colin smiles brightly at him before leaping off the bed and climbing swiftly down the ladder. He dashes outside and the door swings shut behind him. 

Twilight stares at the floorboards in front of him, thoroughly confused. His shadow stretches out before him and he can’t help but feel like something is off. To his surprise, his shadow moves. He frowns at it and absently puts a hand to his chest, but doesn’t feel the talisman beneath his shirt. His heart pounds as he starts frantically checking the bed around him and pulling open the drawers of his little side table trying to find it. A light chuckle comes from behind him. When he turns, he sees a familiar silhouette. 

“Just how you get along without me is a complete mystery,” Midna says, toying with the talisman. 

“Midna?!” Twi says surprised. She smiles coyly at him and holds the talisman up, as if examining it. 

“You know, I’m a little surprised you kept this. I would have thought you would want to put those awful memories out of your mind.” 

“Well...those awful memories also contain you...so…” Twilight’s voice trails off and the silence sits for a moment. 

“I don’t know where you’ve been going, but...I could sense you still. Fainter than when you were with me of course,” Midna says, clearly trying to sound disinterested. “I think this little curse is why I could always tell what was happening to you.” 

“It helped me get back here, too,” Twilight tells her. 

“No it didn’t. I did that. And it took a LOT of effort let me tell you. Just how you got so far in the future and even FURTHER after that is a wonder, but that is not something I could easily do just all the time for you,” she says, annoyed. “Messing with time is not an easy thing to do without messing SOMEthing up.” 

“I know. I’m sorry. We had no other choice. I’m just glad you heard me. And that you’ve been hearing me all this time,” Twilight says a little quietly. Midna smiles softly at him and opens her mouth to say something, but the door opens and she vanishes into Twilight’s shadow, dropping the talisman on the ground at his feet. 

“Link! Are you okay in here?” Colin calls up. 

“Yeah, Colin, I’m fine. Just making sure I’m okay to climb down with this arm,” Twilight calls down, readjusting the sling on his shoulder to accommodate climbing down the ladder. Colin leads him outside and watches anxiously as Twi climbs down that ladder and walks over to Epona. Colin joins him and smiles up at the massive horse. 

“She’s really happy today. I think it’s cause your scary looking brother gave her some sort of sweet apple? I couldn’t tell what it was,” Colin comments. Twilight freezes. 

“Scary-looking brother?” he asks. 

“Yeah. You know. The one with the weird scars on his face with the one-eye. He’s super nice, but he scared me when he first showed up at the house looking for Dad. Uh...Link?” Twilight’s heart is pounding as he stares at nothing in particular. Colin’s words snap him back to reality. 

“My brother. Where is he?” 

“He and your other brothers all went to the ranch. They said something about needing to see these goats you mentioned.” 

“Let’s go help them,” Twilight says quickly. A little awkwardly, he climbs up onto Epona’s back and helps pull Colin up. He whistles shortly and Epona starts trotting towards the town. He can’t help but speed her up a little, but the second he comes into the town proper he has to slow down again. Several of the children’s parents are out and happily call him over to them to check on him. Twilight can’t help but feel obligated to spend a few minutes with each of them, assuring them all he’s fine and accepting their well wishes on his recovery. Slowly, painstakingly, Twilight and Colin make their way to the ranch gates and start up the hill. Epona trots briskly up it and they soon find themselves in the corral with the goats. 

Just as Fado said, several of the other Links are running around trying to get the goats into the barn. Wild is especially energetic and keeps whooping at a near constant rate, just confusing the goats further. Legend, Four, and Wind are trying desperately to avoid the goats avoiding Wild’s antics while Sky is generally trying to keep them from going back out towards the field. 

“Twi!” Warriors says happily from his spot near the gate. Beth is standing a little too close to him and smiling dreamily at him. “You’re awake!” 

“Where’s Time?” Twi asks. 

“Oh. I think he and that Rusl guy are on that side of the field,” Warriors gestures vaguely. “Are you fee--” Twilight doesn’t bother waiting for Warriors to finish his question before having Epona take off across the field, going around only enough to keep from interfering with whatever strategy the other Links were using on the goats. Sure enough, in the opposite corner of the field is Time sitting with Rusl. At their approach, Time stands up. 

“Twi! You’re awake!” he says. Twilight jumps awkwardly off of Epona’s back and hugs Time tightly. Time hugs him firmly back, trying delicately to not squeeze any of Twi’s injuries. “Twi. It’s okay. I’m here,” Time says quietly. 

“What happened? What the fuck was that?” Twi asks, pulling back so Time can see the tears on his face. 

“The Fierce Deity mask has an unknown amount of power. I’ve told you before that it doesn’t like to give it up and that’s why I stopped using it. It was really risky to use it to save my life like that, but it was the only thing I could think of to keep me alive long enough for you to find a way to save me,” Time starts to explain. 

“Yeah no I got that. We guessed that already. What the fuck with the not giving you back like he said?!” Twi says a little more forcefully than intended. 

“He never really intended to give me up. Each time I used the mask before, I had to essentially rip his spirit out of my body to remove it. It requires a lot of magic and a lot of strength to do and I’m a bit rusty with magic lately and I was on the verge of death so I didn’t have the strength to even try it.” 

“So you were just going to let him? How the hell does that fix anything!” 

“Twi, please. You’ve been very stressed and you’re still healing--” 

“YOU TRIED TO KILL ME!” Twi can feel every fiber of his being shaking. “It was your face. They were your moves. It was you! Everything was you!” Tears start running down his face. “You were going to kill me.” 

“Twi. I would never kill you. I could never hurt you. You and the others mean too much to me for that. This is the chaos the Fierce Deity wants in the world.” He puts a hand on Twi’s good shoulder and Twilight grips it tightly, shutting his eyes and trying to steady his breath. 

“He said you were in there, that you could see me.” 

“Yes. And that’s why you’re alive still. I couldn’t let him kill you, Twi.” Time pulls Twi back into a hug, allowing Twi a few moments to gather himself before letting him go again. Twi rubs at the tear streaks on his face with his good hand and looks at Time. 

“So...that’s it then? You just...you just overpowered him at the end there?” 

“Yeah. I did. Because of you.” Twi smiles a little sadly and sniffles a little loudly, clearing his throat. 

“Then what?” 

“Well, you were horribly injured. Not life-threatening, fortunately, but badly enough that we knew we’d need somewhere to hole up for a while. We didn’t know where to go, though, and that desert didn’t look too friendly--” 

“Wait...we? What...what happened to the others while we were fighting?” 

“That friend of yours, Midna. She stopped them from interfering. She’d told them about the deep magic that the Fierce Deity comes from and how ancient it is, even older than her. She told them that if they tried to join the fight, the Fierce Deity would just kill you all faster instead of toying with you. She wasn’t proud of it, but she was letting him slowly kill you to give me more time to overpower the Deity from within.” 

“I think they probably could have helped. I’m definitely not the only one you don’t want to kill,” Twilight points out. 

“That’s true, but that wasn’t my call and the others decided to trust her judgment.” 

“So what then. You just brought me back here and threw me back in my house for the night?” 

“Night? Twi, it’s been almost two weeks,” Time says with a laugh in his voice. What little color there is drains from Twi’s face. 

“Two weeks?!” 

“You had two nasty head wounds from that battle. Hyrule has been healing you every day since we got here just to try and speed up the process.” Twi looks back around the field towards the others who are trying to act super casual because they are definitely not paying attention to what Time and Twilight are doing. 

“That explains why the goats are so afraid of Wild,” Twilight comments as Wild crazily chases after several goats. Twilight’s expression drops and he looks back at Time. “Don’t tell me. He used a bomb to try and scare them into the barn the first day.” Time can’t help but grin and Twi turns back to look at Wild. “WILD!” Wild stops in his chase and looks happily over at Twilight. 

“Is it my turn to have an emotional conversation with you?” Wild asks teasingly as he starts bounding over. 

“Oh we’re going to have a conversation all right. I think the goats have a few things to say,” Twi says darkly as he starts walking towards Wild. Wild’s face drops and he sputters to a stop. 

“Okay look the bomb was definitely a mistake, but it kinda worked!” Twi starts walking faster. “You’re still injured and you shouldn’t strain yourself?” Wild tries desperately. 

“Don’t throw bombs at my goats!” Twi shouts as he full charges Wild. Wild screams and starts madly running away as Time laughs raucously from behind them.


End file.
